Perovskite LEDs shine in metal-organic framework

By stabilizing perovskite nanocrystals in a metal-organic framework (MOF), a research team has  synthesized light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that exploit the performance benefits of the material while avoiding previous roadblocks. Based on earth-abundant materials and fabricated at room temperature, these LEDs could one day enable lower-cost TVs and consumer electronics, better gamma-ray imaging devices, and even self-powered x-ray detectors.

In a novel approach, the research team at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Los Alamos National Laboratory stabilized the nanocrystals by fabricating them within the matrix of a metal-organic framework, like tennis balls caught in a chain-link fence.

They used lead nodes in the framework as the metal precursor and halide salts as the organic material. The solution of halide salts contains methylammonium bromide, which reacts with lead in the framework to assemble nanocrystals around the lead core trapped in the matrix. The matrix keeps the nanocrystals separated, so they don’t interact and degrade. This method is based on a solution coating approach, far less expensive than the vacuum processing used to create the inorganic LEDs in wide use today.